Before Tomorrow
by wallscrolls
Summary: On August 15th, Haruka Kokonose dies in a hospital bed. The snake has come to watch the show.


A/N: I celebrated finishing NaNoWriMo by writing something that was not my NaNoWriMo story. Zero apologies.

* * *

Beep… Beep… Beep…

The regular, monotone sound was oddly familiar, so even though the noise wormed its way into his consciousness, he didn't mind it that much.

Beep… Beep… Beep…

What was that noise, again? It was kind of nostalgic, like something he'd heard many times before. A sound that had been a part of his life for a very, very long time.

Haruka slowly slid his eyes open, and all he saw was white. A hazy, blurry, unfocused white that probably had some shapes behind it. A nostalgic white.

Wherever he was, it was a very nostalgic place.

He took a deep breath and heard a soft hissing noise. That, too, was familiar.

Where was this place?

Beep… Beep… Beep…

He tried to move one arm and felt something shift around it. A twinge of pain. He lowered his gaze, and the white world slowly came into focus and filled with colors.

A hospital bed.

Ah, how nostalgic.

The heart monitor continued to beep along beside him.

His own ribcage felt heavy on his lungs as he took another deep breath.

Surely he was here because he'd had another attack. This one must have been really bad. A lot of his body felt numb.

That's right. He wasn't expecting to live much longer, was he?

Well, it looked like he'd survived for at least another day.

The world continued to form around him as his consciousness cleared, and he realized that Mr. Tateyama was sitting in a seat across the room from him.

Had he been waiting there this whole time?

How long had it been, anyway? He remembered being in school, but then…

… Then what?

He tried to say something, but the words seemed to die on his lips. Ah, everything felt so heavy.

He tried again.

"Sen… sei…"

Mr. Tateyama looked up and gave him a smile. Probably, that smile was supposed to be reassuring, a comforting smile. But for some reason, it only made Haruka uneasy. "Ah, you're awake? That took you a while this time."

Haruka managed to shift one arm. Feeling was slowly returning to him. "H-how long…?"

"That's right, you've been out for a while. Hours longer than I expected. It's approaching midnight. I was worried; I thought I might have to get my own hands dirty this time."

Haruka slowly tipped his head to the side to look to the window. The curtain was drawn shut, but there didn't seem to be any light streaming in from beyond it. So, it was night after all…

"Takane…"

"Her? Ah, don't worry. I've already taken care of her. It's your turn now."

Even blinking went slowly. Mr. Tateyama wasn't making sense. Wouldn't Takane be worried about him? If he'd been in school, then she must have been there, too…

He tried to push himself up, but suddenly a sharp pain shot through his whole body, starting at his heart and radiating outwards, reigniting nerves he'd all but forgotten he had. "… a-ah…!" Another attack?! So soon after the previous…!

He tried to say something, but it hurt too much to even form words.

Why was Mr. Tateyama still smiling like that?

Haruka couldn't help but grip his chest as the burning pain only grew. The beeping next to him was much faster now. Maybe even twice as fast. Maybe even more. He couldn't tell, but he could feel his heart thudding in his chest, sending agony through him with each beat.

It hurt to breathe. Breathing hurt so much. The hissing from the oxygen mask sounded so loud.

"S-sensei…" He couldn't even speak enough to plead for help. Surely Mr. Tateyama could see how much pain he was in?

Ah, thank goodness. Mr. Tateyama stood up, and was coming towards him now. Now, surely, he'd do something to help, maybe call the doctor or…

Fingers gently touched underneath his chin and tilted his head up. Haruka tried to struggle out more words, but it was all he could do to even breathe. What was Mr. Tateyama doing? Why wasn't he helping him?

Had his eyes always been that red color?

"You make such a great face. Such a lovely expression. You're dying, you know? You're finally dying! Isn't it wonderful? Feel how that weak body of yours shuts down. Feel how you can't do anything but die. It's beautiful. It's so tragic!"

Haruka pulled his face away and reached for the call button. It was right next to his bed, and yet when his whole body was in pain and everything hurt to move, that short distance might very well have been forever. But he had to. He didn't want to die…!

His fingers had just barely brushed the plastic when a hand gripped his own, squeezing tight enough that he thought his bones might break. He let out a cry of pain, but even though he tried to pull his hand from Mr. Tateyama's grip, he was far too weak to do so.

What was going on here?

"No, no, no. You need to die, you know? I can't have you lasting any longer. Well, not that calling for help would do you any good at this point."

"S-se… n…"

"No one is coming for you." Mr. Tateyama's words were like ice, piercing through his heart and stabbing him straight through. "No one is going to help you anymore. We need to move on to the next act, you see. So they're not listening to the call button. They're not paying attention to your vitals. You and that weak body of yours die here and now."

He was still smiling, but it was so far from the kind, caring teacher that Haruka knew. This was like a completely different person. A completely different person staring him down, watching as he struggled for breath, watching as the body he'd been trapped in for seventeen years shut down on him.

Ah, if only he'd had a body that was stronger. If only he'd been able to be active like the normal kids. If only he hadn't been struggling with this illness for as long as he remembered. If only his own weakness hadn't beaten him at the very end.

If only wishes could be granted, he'd have asked for a body that wasn't this feeble and sickly.

Mr. Tateyama let go of Haruka's hand and it fell limply back to the bed. The incessant beeping of the heart monitor gave way to a pleasant, single, continuous tone. A black, gaping hole appeared around the hospital bed, and when it disappeared, the body of the boy who had been occupying it had disappeared as well.

"Thank you for waiting patiently. Good job."

He turned to the door where a woman dressed in a nurse's uniform was peeking in, her expression a little unsettled but otherwise held at neutral.

"He won't need the equipment anymore, so you can take care of that. But I'm going to need to transport him elsewhere when he returns, so I'll need a mobile bed. Get on it."

"Yes, of course." Her voice only wavered the slightest bit.

She immediately moved into the room and started shuffling the equipment around. She didn't even ask about where Haruka disappeared to, though surely she was curious. But neither she nor anyone else here was being paid to ask questions. He paid them to do the jobs that he asked of them, so it was only natural that they'd do what he needed without sticking their noses in further. Those questions wouldn't truly satisfy any curiosity they had, anyway, and at the worst, it could make them a liability. He'd already made it very clear that he didn't appreciate liabilities.

He turned to look at the clock and grinned to himself.

11:57. Just in time.


End file.
